Hardware & Ethics

Dot Points

Hardware

• describe the principles of operation (how each device works) of these input devices: 2D and 3D scanners, barcode readers, Quick Response (QR) code readers, digital cameras, keyboards, mice, touch screens, interactive whiteboards, microphones
• describe how these principles are applied to real-life scenarios, for example: scanning of passports at airports, barcode readers at supermarket checkouts, and touch screens on mobile devices
• describe the principles of operation of the following output devices: inkjet, laser and 3D printers; 2D and 3D cutters; speakers and headphones; actuators; flat-panel display screens, such as Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and Light-Emitting Diodes (LED) display; LCD projectors and Digital Light Projectors (DLP)
• describe how these principles are applied to real-life scenarios, for example: printing single items on demand or in large volumes; use of small screens on mobile devices
• show understanding of the difference between: primary, secondary and off-line storage and provide examples of each, such as:
  • primary: Read Only Memory (ROM) and Random Access Memory (RAM)
  • secondary: hard disk drive (HDD) and Solid State Drive (SSD); off-line: Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), Compact Disc (CD), Blu-ray disc, USB flash memory and removable HDD
• describe the principles of operation of a range of types of storage device and media including magnetic, optical and solid state
• describe how these principles are applied to currently available storage solutions, such as SSDs, HDDs, USB flash memory, DVDs, CDs and Blu-ray discs
• calculate the storage requirement of a file (seen in topic 2, data representation)

Ethics

• show understanding of computer ethics, including copyright issues and plagiarism
• distinguish between free software, freeware and shareware
• show understanding of the ethical issues raised by the spread of electronic communication and computer systems, including hacking, cracking and production of malware